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100Tense, engrossing, and superbly structured, Bus 174 is not just unforgettable drama but a skillfully developed argument.
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100By the end, you realize you've seen an extraordinary movie, easily one of the best of the year.
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100The results are as riveting as any action movie ever made.
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90Tough and relentless, dazzlingly researched and crafted. At its core is compassion for those who are angry, violent and uneducated.
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90Edited with an impeccable sense of timing and rhythm, with each new revelation and insight planted at just the right moment, Bus 174 examines an already gripping story from a moving and untold perspective.
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90What results is a thoughtful, analytical yet still emotional film, meticulously investigated and absolutely compelling.
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89Far from being atypical, the events of June 12 and the litany of tiny nightmares that led up to that day are brutally obvious.
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88If you have seen the masterful 2002 Brazilian film "City of God" or the 1981 film "Pixote," both about the culture of Rio's street people, then Bus 174 plays like a sad and angry real-life sequel.
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88A lot of ground for one film to cover, but this smart, absorbing movie, which has been sharply edited by Felipe Lacerda, never feels like it's spreading itself too thin.
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88It is to Padilha's enormous credit that he steadfastly kicks aside our own culturally imposed frames of reference, insisting that we see the truth, and the humanity, within this very real story.
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83Although it shares a bitter interest in slum desperation with last year's Brazilian-underbelly docudrama ''City of God,'' Bus 174 pulls ahead, I think, by not confusing cinematic pizzazz with the content of misery.
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This gripping Brazilian documentary shows a bus hijacking that spirals out of control because of police incompetence.
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80Alternating between the sad facts of Nascimento life -- which included a stretch at one of Rio's notorious prisons -- with the events unfolding outside the botanical garden, the film is a pulse-pounding piece of documentary reportage, and a terribly important account of a social problem in developing countries that won't be going away anytime soon.
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80This powerful film offers no excuses for Sandro’s actions, but his situation demands our empathy.
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80It all adds up to a searing portrait of social misery.
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80This is provocative stuff--and not just for its searing indictment of Brazilian society.
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80So wrenching and absorbing that you can easily lose sight of the sophistication of its techniques.
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75A unique portrait of modern crime and punishment, gives us terror without filters, a tragic event captured in all its initial immediacy and anguished aftermath.
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75A fascinating account, if less urgently compelling than it might have been.
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75The drivel they call "reality TV" pales in comparison with the gripping big-screen documentary Bus 174.
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The film takes us behind bars to hear horror stories from prisoners. They're illuminated by a black light to hide their identity. The effect is like looking at an X-ray. Moments like this attest to Padilha's artistry as a filmmaker.
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75Engrossing, smartly made documentary.
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75Riveting and courageous documentary.
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75It's a chilling tale that leaves us with the fear that Latin America's exploding social problems may well be beyond solution.
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70An amazingly powerful piece of cinema. Actually, it's more an amazingly powerful piece of news journalism; the kind of in-depth stories told in all their complexity that such fluff American network "news" magazines as "Dateline" could only dream about telling.
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Padilha allows neither easy answers nor ironic commentary, producing on both sides of the conflict a world of inconsolable grief.
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50A tense documentary with multiple layers of meaning.
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SwagV.10Haunting. While I can't say it's among the best movies ever made, it's one that has stuck with me afterwards as long as anything.
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Candy8